[responsive][/responsive]Email marketing – love it or leave it – is here to stay. It’s one of the tools available to publishers to keep subscriptions up and interest growing.

And it’s tough sledding some days; the 30% average drop-off rate means you have to constantly rebuild your list.

Christopher Lester of Emma offers some good advice for marketers on keeping the pipeline full.

“In marketing, you should have at least three to five key messages that tell your brand story ready to plug into various channels that help drive traffic,” Lester notes in Publishing Executive.

“The first step to growing your email list: adapt one of your key messages to show the value of your content and create a clear call to action to join your email list. Then, use this new messaging to promote your email signup link on social media,” Lester advises.

“Your social audience has already shown interest in your organization, so share your signup link regularly and invite your followers to take the next step in brand engagement.”

Lester notes that employees can have a vital role in this too; asking them to promote your brand on their personal channels can be effective.

Lester points out a valuable insight: “Email conversion rates are 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter, so moving someone from fan or follower to subscriber puts them in a really good position to become loyal brand consumer.”

Growing your email list is a marathon, not a sprint. And like any marketing activity, you must give good value in return for that sign-up. Focus on the story your brand has to tell and communicate authentically and openly with your tribe.